Trade Groups Warn L.A. and Long Beach Against Restrictions on Port Activity

Over 100 organizations led by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) signed a letter urging the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach to oppose a "potential Indirect Source Rule (ISR)" by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). In the letter to the mayors written Aug. 25, groups that include the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America warned that the ISR would have a "devastating impact" on jobs in California, the supply chain, the economy, the transition to "zero-emissions" equipment, the competitiveness of the ports, and the "economic vitality of Port-adjacent communities."

The ISR establishes "volume caps" on port activities, which will "restrict the delivery of critical imported goods" and halt the export of "California's manufactured goods and agricultural products to foreign markets," the letter said.

The potential restrictions would damage the partnership between the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach through their harbor departments and the "maritime labor and goods movement industry," the letter said. "That partnership has successfully competed for hundreds of millions of dollars in State and Federal incentive funding and reduced toxic-related emissions by 85%. Future funding and the basis of that partnership is jeopardized by this proposed ISR."

The ISR also would affect port jobs and revenues, the letter said. It would also make it harder for the "local supply chain" to pay for equipment that would help ports transition to a zero-emissions infrastructure, the letter said. This would defeat the purpose of California's zero-emission strategies and the Ports' Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), it said.

The ISR would be "counter-productive" to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because the ISR would divert cargo to "less environmentally conscious" trade gateways, the letter said. The gateways that goods would be transferred to are located in states that compete with California but "do not share California's goals," the letter said. "The shifting of supply chains and the economic vitality that follows, from San Pedro Bay to other gateways will undoubtedly have numerous unintended consequences," the letter said.

The Los Angeles mayor's office, the Long Beach mayor's office, and SCAQMD did not respond to our request for comment.